Part 2 of 2
What is being called the most expensive mass transit tunnel project in the nation will rev up its engines next month when work on an underpass begins in North Bergen and continues toward New York City, both above and below ground.
The rock that is removed beneath North Bergen, Union City, Hoboken, and Manhattan with a custom-built boring machine will be transported on trucks and used to create a railway storage area, said Arthur Silber, chief of the Trans-Hudson Express Tunnel Project. Silber explained that most of the rock beneath the Palisades is diabase, a hard tough rock.
The machine will advance at 30 to 50 feet per day and 186 to 270 feet below ground, said Silber.
“Right now we’re in talks with a [property] owner to buy about an 80-acre site [in Kearny], and when we construct the tunnels we’re going to be excavating enough rock and materials to fill Giant Stadium or more,” said Silber.
Silber said that the rock will be “compacted” and will raise the ground 20 feet. Then a “mid-day” storage yard will be built on top of it for trains after the morning commute and before rush hour.
The complete transit project, Access to the Region’s Core, or ARC, is expected to cost $8.7 billion by the time it is finished in 2017.
A $13.6 million contract recently was awarded to Ferreira Construction by the NJ Transit Board for the North Bergen underpass portion of the project. That underpass will connect to a new tunnel that will be created next to an existing pair of tunnels through the Palisades that were dug more than 100 years ago by the Pennsylvania Railroad. The existing tunnels are currently part of the Northeast Corridor line operated by Amtrak, leading to Penn Station in Manhattan.
The newest tunnel will head south before returning north towards Manhattan and it will be almost 50 feet below the existing lines, Silber said.
NJ Transit and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have committed $5.7 billion to the ARC project, with the remaining $3 billion being sought from the federal government. Two weeks ago, NJ Transit received news that an additional $200 million of the administration’s fiscal 2010 budget was set aside for the project, bringing the government’s total funding commitment to nearly $378 million.
Changes to Secaucus station
Silber explained that Frank F. Lautenberg Junction Station, also known as the Secaucus Transfer, will experience changes because of the new routes.
By 2030, the new transit line will allow 48 trains to travel between New Jersey and New York City per hour, from the current 23. The new tunnel will allow commuters on the Main, Bergen County and Pascack Valley lines to travel into New York City without having to get off and transfer at the Secaucus train station, but the trains will still run through the station, and area commuters can still pick up the trains there. So there will likely be more traffic at the station.
“We’re anticipating, especially on these three lines, it will be so much more convenient, [and] there will be a big draw from the George Washington Bridge crossing,” said Silber, who explained that commuters will not have to make as many time-consuming transfers.
The trains will run on diesel power until they reach Secaucus, when the train will stop and allow people who transfer to get off, and then will switch to electric power before travelling toward the North Bergen tunnel.
It will be the first time that NJ Transit uses dual-powered locomotives.
State-of-the-art station
The tunnel will enter Manhattan beneath a mostly vacant portion of land and end at the new station on 34th Street in Manhattan, one block from the Empire State Building.
Silber explained that designing the new station was a challenge because they could not get within 200 feet of a 100-year old water tunnel, New York City’s only water source.
Silber said 50 percent of NJ Transit commuters transfer to subways.
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He said that there was no way to tell how much fractured rock exists around the tunnel because no one has been inside of it for a century.
A new water tunnel is currently being built down 10th Avenue, and Silber said after the “redundant” system goes into affect, New York City will “retrofit” the old tunnel and bring it back to service. Then, if possible, the new station can be expanded.
Silber said that is why the new station does not go past Sixth avenue, but pointed out that it will be almost two blocks long, a block longer than the existing Penn Station.
He said the mid-level mezzanine of the station will be 150 feet below street level. The three-level station will have six areas for trains to drop passengers off and that high-speed escalators will bring them to subway or street level in almost the same amount of time as those that use Penn Station.
Silber said 50 percent of NJ Transit commuters transfer to subways and that 50 percent of this demographic transfer to the MTA’s 8, 7, or 6 subway lines, which will be connected via walkway to the new train station.
Tricia Tirella may be reached at TriciaT@hudsonreporter.com.